


Physiology of Skeletons (For Non-Naughty Fans)

by ArgentDandelion



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Analysis, Biology, Gen, Meta, Nonfiction, Science, Weird Biology, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:00:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26385277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: Covers multiple approaches to how the bodies of Undertale's skeleton monsters work, from purely magical means to biologically coherent unless otherwise-specified.
Kudos: 6





	Physiology of Skeletons (For Non-Naughty Fans)

**Author's Note:**

> Originally a multi-part series, although my computer going kaput mid-August 2020 has substantially slowed down completion. For now, this will be considered complete by itself.

Fans have taken multiple approaches to explain the physiology of _Undertale’s_ skeleton monsters (e.g., Sans and Papyrus). In summation, the approaches can be called **Magical** , **Semi-Magical** , **Semi-Biological** , and **Biological**.

##  **Magical**

The composition of a skeleton monster’s body is entirely/almost entirely magic, and share few physical properties with real skeletons except for appearing made of bones. Not limited by biological plausibility. (e.g., if a human skeleton would normally be twenty pounds and not sink in deep snow, a skeleton of this type would weigh roughly the same as a regular human and sink in deep snow)

 **Example:** Papyrus can freely detach his skull from his body, control his body while the skull is detached, and have his body reattach it, multiple times, with minimal to no discomfort. No explanation is given beyond “it’s magic”/“that’s normal for skeletons”.

##  **Semi-Magical**

Skeleton monsters’ bodies are made _mostly_ of magic, the same way a human is made _mostly_ (~60) of water. Has a mixture of biological traits from and non-real magical ones, favoring the latter. Real-life biological traits (e.g., “bleeding” when slashed) are few/are paralleled by magic means (e.g., “leaking” red magic that just looks like blood).

 **Example:** Papyrus can detach his skull from his body, but loses control of his body when he does so and needs someone else to reattach it. Reattachment has no problems, but detachment is uncomfortable.

##  **Semi-Biological**

Portrayed closely to reanimated human skeletons, with accurate bone shapes and sizes, except when necessary to make them more biologically plausible. (e.g., “How do the bones stick together without tendons?”) Have certain, consistent limits due to being so similar to reanimated human skeletons. (e.g., can’t eat non-magical food like people normally do) Canon-unsupported magic/biologically improbable traits are kept to a minimum. Magic-based biological explanations are given more detail than “it’s just magic”, making it plausible, if not biologically so. (e.g., the magical composition of the bones works like magnets, keeping the bones together despite the lack of tendons)

 **Example:** Papyrus can’t detach his skull from his body, attempting it is painful, and if that happens, he loses control of his body. Papyrus can’t move much as just a skull. His head can be reattached to his body fairly easily as surgery goes, but it must be done quickly and some post-operative care is needed.

##  **Biological**

Skeleton monsters’ magic extends only to that outright depicted in the game, as close to the original contexts as possible (e.g., SOUL modes, bullet patterns, Papyrus’s weird flutter-jump thing), they are depicted as closely to real biological creatures as possible, if unusual ones, (e.g., dying in a context where a biologically plausible creature would likely die) and resemble reanimated human skeletons roughly as much as sea spiders resemble regular spiders. (So, rather than shoving real skeleton facts into a framework and gluing the implausible parts together with “magic”, they’re biological creatures which _resemble_ human skeletons)

 **Example:** Papyrus cannot detach his own head, and attempting to do so is very painful.Like a gecko’s tail keeps trashing when detached, Papyrus’s head can keep talking if detached, but quickly dies.Though surgical reattachment for decapitation is impossible/practically impossible, regrowth of limbs is easy/surgical reattachment of limbs is easy compared to other monsters.

**Author's Note:**

> The author enjoys comments. Feel free to comment, either here or on the author's [Tumblr](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/).


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